Still the Same
by Ms. Stella Black
Summary: In which Captain Jack Harkness runs across the TARDIS, quite a while after he last saw the Doctor. I was thinking about how excited I would be if Jack Harkness appeared in Doctor Who again, and this came to mind. Reviews are much appreciated.
1. Still the Same

Jack heard the whooshing of the TARDIS from a mile away. It was a sound he never thought he'd hear again. But here he was in the 29th century on the planet Androxia, and echoing through the floors was the noise of an old friend's time machine. He was sitting at the bar, enjoying a Maalavlian cocktail, and checking out an attractive Somebody when he heard it. No one else seemed to notice the reason why an incredible grin spread across the captain's face, but no matter… Jack took off in a sprint towards the source, leaving behind a half-finished cocktail and all his plans for flirtation.

He finally reached the blue box, completely out of breath and regretting leaving behind his drink. He leaned over, catching his breath and contemplating the fact he was no longer as young as he once was, before pounding on the doors, hoping there was still someone inside. Jack slid to the ground, leaning against the TARDIS, but still full of hope. Sure, the Doctor was off doing something, but this was his transport. Jack was confident he would be back before long…

Three hours later, the sleeping Jack was awakened by the paired footsteps of a young man and woman. Immediately alert, he jumped to his feet and saluted the two. Bringing his hand down, he ran his eyes over the darker skinned man, although he didn't entirely miss the young lady in the skirt.

Jack grinned. "Doctor, Doctor, Doctor…" he trailed, eyes finally meeting with the seemingly confused young lad. He wondered why the Doctor wasn't happier to see him, or at least slightly annoyed. Jack flitted his eyes to the girl, "And you must his lovely companion, am I right?" She narrowed her eyes at him and exchanged a look with the one beside her.

The man coughed, "Erm… I'm not the Doctor. M' name's Danny Pink, actually."

Jack's eyes lit up as he focused his gaze on the girl, "Oh really? My apologies, Doctor, it's a good look for you." He winked, and she rolled her eyes, beginning to enjoy the ruse.

"Right… yeah, I'm the Doctor," Clara said slowly, finishing with a grin. She enjoyed being the boss.

Danny gave her a funny look, but he decided to go with it and nodded solemnly. 'Yup, the Doctor, right here, and who might you be?"

Jack grinned, "An old friend of the Doctor here, although she looked quite a bit different last time I saw him… her."

Clara nodded, "Yeah, I've, uhm… changed a few times since then. It was quite a shock to be honest." She bit her lip, "Right, anyway, why don't you tell Danny here who you are."

Jack nodded, and bowed with a flourish, "Captain Jack Harkness, at your service." He grabbed Danny's hand and kissed it gently, causing Clara to giggle and Danny to cough nervously. Jack straightened up, looking curiously at the woman he believed to be the Doctor. "You really have changed," he commented, "Normally right about now you'd be saying in an annoyingly authoritative voice, 'Don't start, Jack.'"

Clara tried not to smile, "Right, yeah… cut it out Jack," she said, nodding sternly. She exchanged a look with Danny, and he grinned back at her. She had no idea how long she could keep up the ruse or which Doctor had met the handsome man before her. Clara recognized his name as the previous owner of the vortex manipulator she had once used to go back to Elizabethan times, but she didn't know much else about him… She coughed. "Anyway…" she continued a bit awkwardly, ignoring the strange look he was beginning to give her, "How have you been since… y'know."

Jack tilted his head, beginning to doubt the woman's identity. Before he could question her further though, a familiar voice boomed out, "Clara, Danny! How long can it possibly take for you two to retrieve a simple…" he trailed off, coming into view and himself seeing Jack leaning casually against the TARDIS. "Jack?" he asked incredulously.

Jack straightened up, not believing what he was seeing, "Frobisher? What in the…"

"Frobisher, who the hell is Frobisher?" replied the man, coming up beside Clara and Danny.

Jack shook his head, realizing this couldn't possibly be the man from Miracle Day. It was obviously the Doctor, although the resemblance was uncanny. "No one, never mind," he replied, "Just a man that looks like you…" He turned his gaze to Clara and winked, "What's your name then, pretty, since you obviously aren't the Doctor?"

She blushed, and was about to tell him when the Doctor cut in, "Please don't start, Jack."

Jack grinned, cuffing him on the shoulder and bringing him into a slightly awkward embrace, "Same old Doctor, after all these years."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, smiling a little despite himself, "And the same old Jack."

**A/N: If you review, I will give you virtual cookies and also check out your stories. :)  
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	2. She doesn't like me either

**Thank you so much to my two reviewers - BritishAlien and notwritten! This chapter goes out to you guys. =)**

The four of them stumbled into the TARDIS about twenty minutes later, on the run from the compound's private security - a group of six hired Judoon. The Doctor ran to the console with Danny at his aid to take them away from the ruckus they had inadvertently caused.

Jack leaned against the rail, grinning at Clara. "Man, I missed life with the Doctor," he commented.

She grinned back at him, before taking a look at the monitor above the console. The Judoon surrounded the TARDIS, inspecting it and trying to find a way in before assuming that the four supposed fugitives had simply appeared to enter the strange blue box, and had in fact gone beyond it. Following their false observation, the rhino-like creatures disappeared from the monitor to search elsewhere for the group.

Hearing the TARDIS groan, Clara looked over at the Doctor and bounced up to him, "Something wrong? Why haven't we fled yet?"

The Doctor glanced at her, "She won't take off, I've got to check underneath." He took off for the stairs leading below the console, Danny giving Clara a shrug before following him below.

She sighed, and leaned on the rail beside Jack. "She's probably malfunctioning because she hates me," Clara mused.

Jack gave her a sideways look. "You think so? Could be because she's not too fond of me either," he told her.

Clara smiled. "Really? What'd you do to piss her off?" she asked curiously.

"Became immortal," he answered flatly.

Clara perked up, turning to face him, "That's amazing! So like you can't be killed by anything?"

He nodded, a little too solemnly. "Not so far, anyways," he told her, pausing to blink away the images of those he had lost... those he had loved, before she could see his glassy eyes, "One time I clung to the outside of the TARDIS and she tried so hard to fling me off we ended up at the end of the universe. Now /that/ was not a fun trip."

She shivered, remembering her own experience in the time vortex, "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Jack's eyes perked up, "You've been to the end of the universe?"

She shook her head, chuckling, "Oh no, I meant I've traveled holding on to the door handle of this bloody ship. I was practically frozen by the time we arrived back at Trenzalore."

"Yikes," Jack responded, "Never heard of Trenzalore, though. What section is it in?"

Clara shook her head, "Not sure, to be honest. I don't even know which centuries I was there in."

"Centuries plural?" Jack asked, curious.

She nodded. "Yeah, the uh... Doctor. He sent me away. Twice. A woman called Tasha came and brought me back right before he..." she trailed off, staring at the space on the floor where she had last seen her bow-tied Doctor. Clara gulped, holding back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. Jack stayed silent, waiting for her to regain her composure. She took a deep breath before spitting out the last word, "Regenerated."

"Ah," he said simply, "You were closer to the last one then?"

Clara shrugged, "Not sure really. I miss him terribly, but I'm still quite fond of this one. He's just different, that's all. It took some getting used to, y'know?"

Jack nodded, and they were silent for a moment before he asked her, "So... How old does that make the Doctor now? Last time we met he was somewhere close to nine hundred."

"Huh," Clara breathed, turning her head sideways, "Suppose it's been a while then. I think he's somewhere around two thousand now, what with the years spent on Trenzalore. Although every time I ask he gives me a different number, so there's really no telling."

Jack laughed. "Maybe he forgot centuries ago and just pulls a number out of a hat that seems reasonable," he mused.

She nodded with a smirk, "Yeah, probably so. Or he just lies to make himself sound wiser."

He snorted, "Or maybe adversely, to seem more hip."

Clara grinned, shaking her head, "Oh goodness, you should have seen the last one. He wore a bow-tie and suspenders and thought fezzes were cool."

"Big fan of suspenders myself," Jack commented, "But throw out the fez, those only work if you've got a colossal chin."

"Actually he did," she said, smiling a little and murmuring the next few words,"But he was awfully cute even with that and no eyebrows."

Jack smirked, quirking his own eyebrows, "What was that you said?"

Clara blushed, "Nothing. I-I said nothing about cuteness. Or-or anything."

He watched her knowingly. "Mhm. Sure," he said teasingly, drawing out the word. She went a deeper shade of red. "No worries though, Clara, now that you've got me on board you'll have plenty of eye-candy to stare at," he told her, winking over dramatically.

She shook her head, trying not to laugh. "Whatever, Jack," she said, rolling her eyes.

He was about to respond with something cheeky when the TARDIS started moving, at first peaceably, but soon rather chaotically. Jack shouted to the Doctor, who had returned above and was now urgently flipping switches and pressing buttons at the center console, "Any idea where we're headed?"

The Doctor ignored him, too busy fighting with the TARDIS. Danny ran, tripping over himself, to grab the fire extinguisher when something inexplicably caught on fire. Clara slid across the floor, tumbling over herself, having lost her grip on the railing.

Not soon enough, the ship slowed down, coming to a standstill. By then, everyone besides the Doctor was slightly disoriented. Not especially concerned with his companions who joined him by the monitor as soon as they were able to stand, he examined the readings.

"Interesting. She's taken us to New Earth, the year 5,000,000,012. Opening ceremonies."

**IMPORTANT A/N: So I decided to extend my one-shot into a chapter story - hurray! However, I won't be updating for a while because I don't feel comfortable writing Twelve and Danny much more than this because we haven't gotten to know them yet, and I'd probably get their characters massively wrong. Since the first chapter was originally just going to be a one-shot, the title doesn't really fit with the rest of the story, so I'm going to be changing that too. Once I can think of a good one (I'm open to suggestions!). **

**Anyway, thank you for reading, and if you liked it (or even if you think it's dumb), I would really appreciate your review. Feel free to tell me what you liked, disliked, and give any advice that you please. =)**


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